All the Effects of Realignment

Pick Your "Big" Conference, TCU
In the latest twist of college football realignment TCU has accepted an invitation from the Big 12 Conference to become the 10th team in the Big 12 after the recent departure of Texas A&M to the SEC.  So TCU has left the Mountain West Conference, accepted an invitation to the Big East, won the Rose Bowl, left the Big East, and accepted an invitation to the Big 12 all within the last year.  So the Big 12 now has 10 teams, the Big 10 now has 12 teams, the Big East appears to be crumbling, and conference commissioners and university trustees everywhere continue looking for the best way to maximize their revenue potential.
 

TCU has celebrated an undefeated season, a Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin
(above) and 2 invitations to two different BCS conferences all within the last year.

As part of joining the Big 12, TCU will begin competing next year and will have to pay the Big East a $5 Million exit fee despite never actually playing a conference game.  Once it joins the Big 12 next year, TCU will begin to reap the financial rewards that come with joining a BCS conference and will easily pay back the Big East exit fee and pay for its ongoing football stadium reconstruction project.  But as TCU counts its dollars it should also count on saying goodbye to the undefeated seasons and the combined 25-1 record TCU compiled during the 2009 and 2010 seasons.  TCU has to know that it will be a little more difficult to win in the Big 12 when they're going to be replacing UNLV, Wyoming, and New Mexico on their schedules with Oklahoma, Texas, and Oklahoma State.  And if they don't believe me, then they should go and ask the Utah Utes.

No Matter What
Speaking of Utah, they returned to their home field after demolishing BYU 54-10 in one of most lopsided games of the college football season only to get steamrolled by Washington and Arizona State in consecutive weeks.  Welcome to the Pac-12!  Apparently Utah didn't learn anything from watching BYU turn the ball over to them seemingly possession after possession in Provo on September 17 because turnovers have been the Utes' demise in their first two Pac-12 home games.  Three interceptions and two fumbles contributed to the latest debacle against the Sun Devils, dropped the Utes to 0-3 in the Pac-12, and dashed any opportunity for a BCS Bowl game this year.  Where is UNLV when you need them?!  Utah coach Kyle Whittingham expressed his frustrations Saturday night by promising that "We'll start winning games when we stop turning the ball over.  That's the bottom line."

Cody Hoffman and the Cougars have recovered from the Utah blowout
by winning their next 3 games.  The Utes, however, have not had the same fate.

But before all you BYU fans start piling on the "Have fun going 2-7 in the Pac-12 bandwagon!", remember this, BYU lost to Utah 54-10.  At home.  On national television.  Utah could lose the rest of its games and BYU could win the rest of its games, but no matter what, no BYU fan should be heard talking about their superiority over the Utes until next September when the teams square off again.  Utah beat BYU.  Bad.  Let the Utes enjoy that 54-10 score and start counting the days until the BYU-Utah basketball game in December.

You Say Manure, I Say Fish Bait
Before the team TCU has to thank for its invitation to the Big 12 (SEC-bound Texas A&M Aggies) visited Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas on Saturday, Texas A&M Athletic Director, Bill Byrne tweeted that the Texas A&M buses had been spray-painted and doused with manure by Texas Tech fans who apparently were eager to give the Aggies a farewell present or two as they were on their way to the SEC.  However, in a statement released today, Texas Tech officials "strongly condemned" vandalism, and said that fish bait, not manure, was used in the incident.  Oh, ok...thanks for the clarification.  Texas Tech went on further to say that the fish bait was dropped on the floor of one of the buses and that the "spray paint" was, in fact, washable shoe polish, and that the buses were cleaned before Byrne even saw them.  No one has admitted to the vandalism (although Texas Tech seems to know quite a bit of the details, don't they?).  Texas Tech indicated that they were relying on the information it received from the hotel management and the bus company.  Wow, all BYU got when they left the Mountain West last year was a few extra students dressed up as missionaries at a BYU-San Diego State basketball game, so I suppose it's true that everything is bigger in Texas - including the goodbye.